I wrote an article about
Israel and the space colonization more than 5 years ago. A lot of
people catalogue it as visionary, but now, in the words of Gen.
Eliezer Shkedy, it seems like an inmediate reality. The space is one
dimention that Israel and the Jewsih People should explore and think
very seriously. now talking about space, was like talking abour
cloning 10-15 years a go. The Moon is not to far: is only a matter
of technology and will.

Israel will be facing a possible
threat to its vital space-based assets within the coming decade for
which it has to start preparing immediately, Israel Air Force chief
Maj.-Gen. Eliezer Shkedy told the second Ilan Ramon Annual
International Space Conference in Herzliya Wednesday.

His comments came in light of China's
destruction on January 11 of one of its own satellites, an act that
has sparked concern among the world's leading space powers that
potential enemies may target their space-based assets in a version
of Star Wars not heard of since the Reagan administration at the
height of the Cold War.

Although China has officially denied
any military or political motivation for its act two weeks ago, a
point reaffirmed Wednesday to the Post by the Chinese
military attache in Israel, the US and India have, since the Chinese
incident, made remarks about the need to protect their civilian and
military [dual-use] space assets.

Addressing the conference, which was
held under the auspices of the Fisher Brothers Institute for Air and
Space Strategic Studies in Herzliya, and the Science, Sports and
Culture Ministry, Shkedy said: "The advantage of information and
intelligence in a time of war is paramount to victory. Operational
capabilities, command and control, as well as application of force
are increasingly connected to space-based assets. It is hard to
imagine fighting a war without these assets. Israel will develop its
capabilities in space in the coming years as the connection between
the military and space is growing. The Americans, Indians and
Chinese are all investing huge sums of money in space."

From a purely operational
perspective, Shkedy added, Israel needed to become fully autonomous
in its space industry and develop its own capabilities. While not
relating to China's motivations for destroying its satellite in the
fashion that it did, Shkedy said the message "cannot be ignored."

"Battle in space is on our agenda,
whether we want it there or not. We need to understand how we
develop and protect our space assets at the relevant time. Within
five to 10 years this will sadly be very relevant. There may be
those who would seek to harm our forces in space, as they would our
forces on land and at sea. We could face this reality in a
high-intensity conflict in the future," Shkedy said.

Last year, at the first Ilan Ramon
Conference, Shkedy announced a change in the official name of the
Israel Air Force, to the Israel Air and Space Command. Israel
Aircraft Industries recently changed its name to the Israel
Aerospace Industries.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz, who was
not at the conference but sent a statement to delegates, said Israel
had to be ready for "present and future threats" from unfriendly
nations harming its space assets, "as we saw was possible by the
Chinese example."

"Israel needs to make sure that it is
not cut off from its space assets during a time of conflict," Peretz
said.

Maj.-Gen. [res] Prof. Chaim Eshed,
head of the Space Program Department of the Defense Ministry, says
that while the surveillance aspect of the global satellite industry
is at five percent, Israel's situation is much different, with a
much larger percentage of Israel's space-based assets focused on
high-resolution surveillance and other defense-related surveillance
functions.

Gen.[res] Prof. Itzhak Ben-Israel,
head of the Israel Space Agency, said satellites are integral to the
direction of smart munitions, such as the Joint Direct Attack
Munitions [JDAM], or bunker-busting guided missiles, of which, as
first reported in The Jerusalem Post this week, Israel has
just purchased $100 million worth.